Chapter 4

Socialization and Development

Socialization Social interaction that teaches the child

the intellectual, physical, and social skills needed to function as a member of society.

Each child slowly acquires a personality— the patterns of behavior and ways of thinking and feeling that are distinctive for each individual.

Deprivation and Development Human infants need more than just

food and shelter if they are to function effectively as social creatures.

Children who aren’t provided physical, mental, or emotional stimulation often develop attachment disorder—they re unable to trust people and to form relationships with others.

Moral Development Research suggests that not every person

is capable of thinking about morality in the same way.

Just as our sense of self and our ability to think logically develop in stages, our moral thinking develops in a progression of steps as well. Class experiment…..

Cooley’s: Looking-Glass Self The process through which we develop a

sense of self (Entirely a Social Product): We imagine how our actions appear to

others. We imagine how other people judge

these actions. We make a self-judgment based on the

presumed judgments of others.

Freud’s View of the SelfThe self has three separately functioning parts: id - the drives and instincts every human

inherits, but which remain unconscious for the most part.

Superego - society’s norms and moral values as learned primarily from our parents.

ego - tries to mediate in the eternal conflict between the id and the superego, and to find socially acceptable ways for the id’s drives to be expressed.

Agents of Socialization

The Family Primary means of socialization in most

societies Varies according to geography,

subculture, class, religion, ethnicity and different lifestyles of parents

The School Early interaction with others Building social and inter-personal skills Early experience in institutional

environments

Agents of Socialization

Agents of Socialization Peer Groups

Great influence in lifestyle issues Social support Social pressure to conform

The Mass Media 98.2% of all households in the U.S. have

television sets, with an average of 2 sets per home.

Schoolchildren watch an average 2 1/2 hours of television on school days and 4 hours and 20 minutes on weekends.

By the time most people reach the age of 18, they will have spent more waking time watching television than doing anything else.

Deviant Behavior and Social Control

Normal and Deviant Behavior Norms and values make up the moral code of a

culture. The moral code of a culture - The symbolic

system in terms of which behavior takes on the quality of being “good” or “bad,” “right” or “wrong.”

Deviant behavior is behavior that fails to conform to the rules or norms of the group in question.

What is deviant behavior?

What is Deviant Behavior? From the sociological perspective,

deviance is seen as relative to the values of any given culture. However, there are certain acts that are almost universally accepted as being deviant. Genocide Parent-child incest

Functions of Deviance

Prompts the group to organize in order to limit future deviant acts.

Helps clarify for the group what it really does believe in.

Teaches normal behavior by providing examples of rule violation

Theories of Crime and Deviance

Biological Theories of Deviance People are born criminals Criminals are evolutionary throwbacks whose

behavior is more apelike than human Driven by their instincts to engage in deviant behavior Believed that certain criminal types could be identified

by their head size, facial characteristics and even hair color.

Psychological Theories of Deviance Downplay biological factors and emphasize instead the

role of parents and early childhood experiences, or behavioral conditioning, in producing deviant behavior.

Assume that the seeds of deviance are planted in childhood and that adult behavior is a manifestation of early experiences rather than an expression of ongoing social or cultural factors.

Behavioral Theories People adjust and modify their

behaviors in response to the rewards and punishments their actions elicit.

Something that leads to a favorable outcome, we are likely to repeat that action.

Strain Theory Robert K. Merton (1938, 1969) believed that American society pushes

individuals toward deviance by overemphasizing the importance of monetary success while failing to emphasize the importance of using legitimate means to achieve that success.

The Importance of Law

What is the legal code?

Legal code The formal rules, called laws, adopted

by a society’s political authority. The code is enforced through the use of

formal negative sanctions when rules are broken.

Explanatory Approaches

Conflict Consensus

Consensus approach Assumes that laws are merely a formal version of the

norms and values of the people. Functionalist model for explaining a society’s legal

system.

Conflict approach Assumes that the elite use their power to enact and

enforce laws that support their own economic interests and go against the interests of the lower classes

Crime in the United States A Crime is behavior that violates a society’s legal code.

Violent crime An unlawful event such as homicide, rape, and

assault that may result in injury to a person. Aggravated assault Rape Murder Robbery

Property crime An unlawful act that is committed with the

intent of gaining property but that does not involve the use or threat of force against an individual.

Larceny Burglary Motor vehicle theft are examples of property

crimes

Violent Crime In addition to homicide and rape, other violent crimes

such as aggravated assault and robbery have an effect on American households.

White-Collar Crime Refers to the acts of individuals who,

while occupying positions of social responsibility or high prestige, break the law in the course of their work for the purpose of illegal personal or organizational gain.

Victimless Crime Acts that violate those laws meant to enforce

the moral code. Examples:

The use of narcotics Illegal gambling Public drunkenness The sale of sexual services

Would you consider Prostitution

a victimless crime?

Question From the following list, what do you feel should be

the most important function of prison?

A. Punish people for crimes they committed.B. Rehabilitate criminals. C. Protect society by locking away criminals. D. Warn to would-be lawbreakers.E. Make people pay back society for crimes

they committed.F. Don't know

Goals of Imprisonment Prisons exist to accomplish at least four

goals: separate criminals from society punish criminal behavior deter criminal behavior rehabilitate criminals

Women Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions, 1925–2004

Average Time Served for Various Types of Crime

U.S. Homicide Solution Rates

Percentage of Selected Crimes Reported to the Police

Likelihood That Someone Will Be Arrested for a Known Crime

Likelihood That Someone Will Be Sent to Prison for a Known Crime